Cleaning and Caring for Jewellery - Part 06 - Crystal and Glass Jewellery

How to Clean Jewellery

Cleaning and Caring for Crystal and Glass Jewellery

Crystal and Glass jewellery will look fantastic if you maintain its sparkle, once the item has become gummed up with make-up, tarnished with grease and dusty through poor storage you have a big and intricate job on your hands to return the item to its original beauty. Far better to keep it clean from the day you buy it!

Whilst coloured glass has the dye as an integral part of the glass many styles of crystals have a thin coating on the surface to give the crystals their unique appearance, in addition glass and crystal tend to be used in intricate pieces of jewellery and thus are combined with other materials, so they might look robust, but they are delicate when it comes to cleaning. Never immerse this type of jewellery in water as it can damage the surface of the crystals. Never use an ultrasonic, ionic or steam cleaners, boiling water or commercial jewellery cleaners to clean your crystal or glass jewellery. Mild soap (i.e. a tiny drop of washing up liquid in a cup of luke warm water), and a soft cloth should be all you need.

After you take your crystal jewellery off, wipe gently with a damp lint free cotton cloth to remove oils and fingerprints and pat it dry. if your jewellery has pearls, turquoise, or any other gemstone sensitive to water in addition to crystal, be very careful. If your crystal is set into silver never wipe it with a polishing cloth that is used to clean silver or gold; as it will leave a dull film on the crystals. You will find a clean lint free cloth will remove silver tarnish just fine. Lay your clean crystal jewellery on a cotton cloth to air dry; overnight if possible, allow to dry thoroughly before storing. Always handle crystal jewellery with clean dry hands to avoid scratching or greasing.

If your crystal jewellery needs additional cleaning, dip a cotton wool bud into water containing a few drops of diluted liquid (not cream) window cleaner or a small amount of diluted mild dish detergent and lightly wipe any problem spots off. We donít recommend using a brush of any sort to clean crystal as it can scratch, but if your jewellery is very dirty and gummed up (been dropped at Glastonbury perhaps!) and if you have to use a brush to remove dirt make sure it is the softest toothbrush you can buy so as to avoid scratching the delicate coating.

Once clean store your jewellery safely in a soft cloth or suedette pouch and an airproof plastic bag to avoid scratching or tangling. Never wear this type of jewellery when you are gardening, cleaning, or playing sport. Always fix your make-up and hair before you put on your jewellery, this way you are less likely to damage it with perfume, hairspray, or any other beauty products.